My only prior experience with Peter Lorre's work was in two of my favorite Humphrey Bogart films, as Joel Cairo in "The Maltese Falcon", and as the scheming Ugarte in "Casablanca". Both characterizations were excellent and memorable efforts. His casting as a Japanese "International Police" investigator is almost as offbeat as Boris Karloff's portrayal of Mr. Wong in that series of mystery films of the same era.
Lorre actually portrays two characters, besides Moto he operates undercover as antiques shop keeper Kuroki. From that vantage point, he tries to keep tabs on a band of international saboteurs who intend to blow up the French fleet as it enters the Suez Canal. The group is led by "Fabian the Great" (Ricardo Cortez), who plays in theater shows as a ventriloquist, and includes Eric Norvel (George Sanders), and Danforth (John Carradine). Danforth is actually a British Agent attempting to hook up with Moto, and his knowledge of Fabian's plans is intentionally less than complete.
Pay attention to the scene when Fabian first suspects that Danforth is not what he seems. He uses a pen to scribble a beard on a photo of British Intelligence Agent Richard Burke in a notebook dossier. The beard he draws ends in a straight line under Burke's chin. In a later scene, when Fabian shows the photo to Norvel, the beard is thicker and descends with a point toward Burke's collar. The actual beard Carradine wears in his role looks quite humorously phony, and makes one thankful for present day film makeup.
The mystery here is rather straightforward, no murders to solve and no red herrings as in the Charlie Chan franchise. We know who the bad guys are right from the start, and the only revelation needed is how Moto will save the day. This he does by escaping from an underwater death trap and by prematurely detonating the mines intended for the French ships, thereby providing them with enough warning to turn around. As a murderous saboteur, Fabian proves rather inept, as he fails to properly dispatch Moto, and earlier his girlfriend Connie (Virginia Field) who discovers his plot. Too bad, as Connie does the honors of stopping Fabian during his tussle with Moto.
Peter Lorre doesn't look like a very physical guy, small in stature and kind of mousy, so his first on screen jiu jitsu throw caught me off guard. I'd be curious to know if he did his own stunt work and martial moves depicted in the movie, as almost all were done in darkly shaded scenes.
As a Charlie Chan fan, I was curious about the Sultana Theater playbill advertising "Charlie Chan in Honolulu" as one of it's attractions. That movie, released the prior year in 1938, featured Sidney Toler in his first portrayal of the Chinese detective. However the playbill mistakenly states that Chan is played by Warner Oland. It seems to me that the movie should have gotten this right, as 1938's "Mr. Moto's Gamble" was originally begun as "Charlie Chan at Ringside" with Oland. However Oland's illness and subsequent death required it's rewriting as a Moto film. This movie, released a year later, came after Oland's death in 1938.
"Mr. Moto's Last Warning" was at least interesting enough to recommend looking up other titles in the series. I'll be looking forward to more adventures of the Japanese agent Kentaro Moto.
Lorre actually portrays two characters, besides Moto he operates undercover as antiques shop keeper Kuroki. From that vantage point, he tries to keep tabs on a band of international saboteurs who intend to blow up the French fleet as it enters the Suez Canal. The group is led by "Fabian the Great" (Ricardo Cortez), who plays in theater shows as a ventriloquist, and includes Eric Norvel (George Sanders), and Danforth (John Carradine). Danforth is actually a British Agent attempting to hook up with Moto, and his knowledge of Fabian's plans is intentionally less than complete.
Pay attention to the scene when Fabian first suspects that Danforth is not what he seems. He uses a pen to scribble a beard on a photo of British Intelligence Agent Richard Burke in a notebook dossier. The beard he draws ends in a straight line under Burke's chin. In a later scene, when Fabian shows the photo to Norvel, the beard is thicker and descends with a point toward Burke's collar. The actual beard Carradine wears in his role looks quite humorously phony, and makes one thankful for present day film makeup.
The mystery here is rather straightforward, no murders to solve and no red herrings as in the Charlie Chan franchise. We know who the bad guys are right from the start, and the only revelation needed is how Moto will save the day. This he does by escaping from an underwater death trap and by prematurely detonating the mines intended for the French ships, thereby providing them with enough warning to turn around. As a murderous saboteur, Fabian proves rather inept, as he fails to properly dispatch Moto, and earlier his girlfriend Connie (Virginia Field) who discovers his plot. Too bad, as Connie does the honors of stopping Fabian during his tussle with Moto.
Peter Lorre doesn't look like a very physical guy, small in stature and kind of mousy, so his first on screen jiu jitsu throw caught me off guard. I'd be curious to know if he did his own stunt work and martial moves depicted in the movie, as almost all were done in darkly shaded scenes.
As a Charlie Chan fan, I was curious about the Sultana Theater playbill advertising "Charlie Chan in Honolulu" as one of it's attractions. That movie, released the prior year in 1938, featured Sidney Toler in his first portrayal of the Chinese detective. However the playbill mistakenly states that Chan is played by Warner Oland. It seems to me that the movie should have gotten this right, as 1938's "Mr. Moto's Gamble" was originally begun as "Charlie Chan at Ringside" with Oland. However Oland's illness and subsequent death required it's rewriting as a Moto film. This movie, released a year later, came after Oland's death in 1938.
"Mr. Moto's Last Warning" was at least interesting enough to recommend looking up other titles in the series. I'll be looking forward to more adventures of the Japanese agent Kentaro Moto.